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wangxianficfinder · 8 months

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In the mood for...

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1. Hi! I'm wondering if there's a fic like this?

(cql) fight where lwj lunges with his sword, and wwx doesn’t move, not thinking lwj would actually hurt, but lwj accidentally hurts him? @karinasnowwwx

Regrets by antebunny (G, 38k, wangxian, miscommunication, misundersandings, time travel fix-it, temporary character death, angst w/ happy ending, fluff, hurt/comfort)

Give Me What I Want by Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle) (E, 60k, WangXian, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Canon Divergence, Episode Related, Angst with a Happy Ending, Burial Mounds, fuck or die aftermath, Angst) the third fic in the series "Give what you like" has a scene like this

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2. hi!! i'd like to request fics that are similar to rather cruelly used and rather reserved by x_los.

i saw someone mention that they'd like specifics for these types of asks; i don't have something in particular in mind (i'd love to get any recs at all!), but some examples could be: this type of back-and-forth conversational humor; the sort of poetic way the prose is written; wwx grieving a-yuan before finding out he's alive; and/or how the confession/relationship is portrayed.

i especially liked the lines where wwx asks if lwj knew wwx loved him and lwj responds "sometimes, i knew," so fics where lwj or wwx sort of. suspect each other likes them/they sort of fall together naturally are also super welcome!

i know this is a lot but i tried to be as helpful as possible. no rec has to accomplish all of these, i just really liked that fic lol @kisskissgotohell

and having a marvelous time by varnes (E, 108k, WangXian, Yúnmèng Siblings, Sound of Music AU, (i know!!! i know. stay with me on this.), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Family Feels, spies to lovers???, Protective Siblings, Sometimes You Just Want Your Dads To Admit They’re Your Dads, Angst with a Happy Ending)

threadfic by saltyfeathers (Not rated, 49k, wangxian, chapters tagged individually)

Works by Vamillepudding

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3. so I've seen a lot of fics with variations of 'Xiao xingchen and song Lan join and/or ally with (while still being rogues) the YilingWei sect'. But what about fics where wwx ends up joining the sect Xiao xingchen and song Lan had planned to found? (And not in a 'wwx raised by another sect' type way, but like a diverging au).

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4. ITMF canonverse fics where Wangxian have to deal with prejudice over their relationship. Hey, I love a good everyone-is-super-supportive-except-for-YZY fic because they deserve it. But MZY's treatment alone makes it clear that homosexuality is looked down on & the lack of any pushback can get boring. I don't want anything that stops them getting together, but I want to read something where they have to deal with negative reactions, whether it's sneers & gossip or having to leave their sects @thispatternismine

Just As Much by Gemiblu (E, 23k, WangXian, Jealousy, Boys In Love, Homophobia, demonic cultivation bondage, Power Bottom WWX, Cockblocking, Semi-Public Sex, Crying During Sex, Intimacy, New World, Female Characters, Casual Intimacy, mentions of non-canon character death, description of violent acts, post marriage, Explicit Sexual Content, Kissing, Affection, supportive married couple, Pet Names, YLLZ WWX)

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5. can i request some xiyao fics? i recently got into that ship and i'd like to read some of yalls favorites :) preferably no lxc/jgy/nmj unless there's a focus on lxc/jgy, and no abo/mpreg/porn without plot please!

Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association Series by Ariaste (M/T, 119k, WIP, XiYao, WangXian, Modern AU, Established Relationship, xiyao and wangxian are both already married, Family Feels, Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Slice of Life, Discussions of Past Trauma, wwx's canonical kinks, HOAverse) there's a reason it's recced all the time!

save the bees (ride a beekeeper) by Ariaste (T, 4k, LXC/JGY, modern, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, Bees, Flirting)

ask until your heart gets it right by Stratisphyre (G, 6k, JYL/JZX, JZX & JGY, implied LXC/JGY, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Humor, Unreliable Narrator JZX, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, Meng Shi's canonically shitty situation, Minor surprise pairing at the end, Fix-It, Everyone Lives au)

a micro utopia born as the overture plays by tardigradeschool (T, 18k, JGY/LXC, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Marriage, Fluff, Scheming, Everyone Lives au, Kid Fic, Spanish translation by finisterre12)

Marriage Principles series by Fahye (E, 38k, wangxian, LXC/JGY, canon divergence, arranged betrothal) LXC/JGY on the second part

Aftermath by KouriArashi (T, 57k, JYL/JZX, wangxian, LXC/JGY, JZX & JGY, JYL & WXX, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Everybody Lives, Romance, Developing Relationship, Family, Sibling Bonding, Light Angst, Politics, Attempted Sexual Assault, some murder on occasion, People talking about their feelings, processing their trauma, The good shit)

Whispers in My Ears by tabulaxrasa (T, 3k, wangxian, implied LXC/JGY, Canon Divergence, LWJ stays at the Burial Mounds, Gossip, JGS is the worst, they have a son, Everyone lives, Podfic Available)

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6. Hey, thanks for your work as always! For the next in the mood for I'd love a compilation of high energy fics, just writing that is high spirited and fun or high energy and super engaging.

live from new york by varnes (E, 87k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, SNL AU, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Pining, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, and they were ROOMMATES, Frottage, Light Bondage, could not be lighter or gentler bondage)

The Scarlet Lotus by rainbowninja167 (M, 137k, WangXian, Marriage of Convenience, Secret Identity, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Canon-Typical Violence, canon-typical war crimes, Yunmeng Bros, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Miscommunication)

kiss with a fist by daltoneering (E, 23k, WangXian, Modern AU, Secret Agents, Enemies to Lovers, Rivals to Lovers, Enemies With Benefits, Mutual Pining, Light Angst, Action & Romance, Action movie-typical violence, A HEIST, james bond inspired, Blood and Injury, Shooting Guns, please read a/n for further warnings!, (this is meant to be fun though I promise!))

ID Bro Saga Series by Bowandtie (T, 39k, WangXian, Modern AU, dating app, Liberal use of emoji, 3zuns as bad friends forever, Slow Burn, super slow it's practically sous vide, Crack) Please read first!: Hey mods I suggested a fic (ID bro series) for no 6 for recent IMTF , I read this series a long time ago and was revisiting it and I found it had some (not much ) humor that is insensitive (like chapter 3 has a joke about Auschwitz). The author is clearly not a native english speaker and might be unaware, though they didn’t correct it though a comment kindly suggested it. I wanted to apologise, I must have overlooked. I don’t want to promote anything that is insensitive or might hurt anyone.

10 RMB lucky chickens by Raitelzen (T, 25k, XiCheng, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Neighbors, Chickens, mafia, Motorbike, Pathology Students, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Pre-Relationship) Last one is crack fic

ridiculous future bullshit Series by sami (T, 61k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Future Fic, in theory it follows on from an au, specifically The Same Moon Shines Series, in actuality I'm not committing to this that hard, Humour, immortals through history, Modern AU, Sort Of, University, outsider pov, Pride, Chaos Gremlin WWX)

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7. Hi! Looking for a fics where LWJ died, but WWX hasn't. Doesn't matter what caused his death - punishment, accident, or protecting someone - anything is okay. I wanna read sth about WWX's feelings about it. LWJ'S resurrection after years would be great too

In the new dawn by ballofstring (E, 9k, XiXian, WangXian, Canon-Typical Violence) warning: it's wwx/lxc pairing.

Moonlight by lunarvelle (E, 14k, WIP, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Omega Verse, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Canon Divergence, YLLZ WWX, WWX Creates a Sect | Yílíng Wèi Sect, LWJ Has a YLLZ Kink, Submissive LWJ, Horror, Case Fic, Pining LWJ, Whump, Dark WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Age Difference, Angst with a Happy Ending, LWJ Whump)

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8. #itmf a fic similar to "after all i drifted ashore" by lingering_song, as in wwx does exactly what the cultivation world wants: give up the yin hufu and dissappear with his wen army and heretic powers; when the jins become the next wen sect, reign over all the others just as he said, and they come asking for help once again. i sincerely would prefer if wwx isnt forgiving to the ones that hunted him down after he down and betrayed him buy trying to lead a siege against him.

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9. hello!! could you please rec fics with the "secretly virgin wei ying lying about how amazing he is in bed and then getting fucked by lan zhan" trope?? or anything similar to it! i've been craving it so much but idk exactly how to find those through ao3 tags *cries*

thankyou so so much! hope you have a lovely day/night <3

Teach Me The Ways by likeafox (E, 58k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, The Porn Is the Plot)

Straight at the Sun by diamondbruise (E, 33k, WangXian, Canon Universe, no war though, Mutual Pining, Pining while fucking, Misunderstandings, First Time, Anal Sex, wwx desperately wants lwj's attention, lwj desperately wants to marry wwx, Miscommunication, Jealousy, in abundance, Happy Ending)

Lead Me On Through by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 54k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Practice Kissing, practice other things, horny boys in love, questionable logic, Questionable Choices, they're dumb but cute, but dumb, but really cute, slight knives, Happy Ending) I think this one also fits but I can't remember exactly. Has similar wwx you clown vibes though

Wei Laoshi, Poonslayer by FeelsForBreakfast (E, 6k, WangXian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, POV LWJ, straight boy wwx, Loss of Virginity, Getting Together) op might want to check the sbwy tag, I feel that is where you would find that trope the most cause its Wei ying talking /lying abt being with girls lol

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10. Was rereading Beast of Gusu series, and as much as I love Foxxian/Dragonji fics (or any other combination of animals), can I get some more recs where only one half of WX is a shapshifter/non-human/etc? I've also read the tiger fic, the one where LWJ is cursed as a plant, and the one where everyone in the Burial Mounds is cursed as a monster, so you can skip those! Please and thank you!!

You are what you eat by deliciousblizzardshark (E, 17k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Eldritch WWX, Horny LWJ, Body Horror, Possessionof a sort, Cannibalism, kind of, Mild Gore, Teeth, Fluff and Humor, Smut, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Monster sex, Switching, Light BDSM, Rimming, Self-Lubrication, Seriousness treated Crackily, Implied/Referenced Torture, Dead WWX) eldritch horror creatures wwx but honestly a puppy really Also there's a shapeshifter comp as well! It includes more than just foxxian :)

find some comfort here by ScarlettStorm (E, 38k, WangXian, Modern AU with Magic, Fox WWX, animal rescuer lwj, Pacific Northwest setting, Adhd wwx, Established Relationship, Comedy, Smut, not just fox wwx but also foxboy wwx, to his own extreme horror, petting, both platonic and sexual, Scent Kink, Like a lot of scent kink, mildly telepathic sex, Blowjobs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Sex Toys, Some A/B/O Dynamics, but in a non a/b/o world, No mpreg, yes self-lubrication, switch rights, Emotional Hurt/Comfort) WWX is a shapeshifter, LWJ is not

Uh, where can I find the LWJ is a plant mentioned in #10???

What We Grew in this Forsaken Place by Admiranda (T, 27k, wangxian, modern cultivation, shapeshifter LWJ, WWX has a fear of dogs, bunny crimes, genius WWX, unexpected pet owner WWX)

The Sun Will Rise series by vespertineflora (E, 129k, wangxian, Fantasy au, Fairy Tale au, Fairy Tale Elements, Human/Monster Romance, Tentacle Monsters, Plant Monsters, Tentacle Sex, vine sex, Vines, Monster LWJ, Human WWX, Mildly Dubious Consent Consensual Non-Con, Eventual Romance, Slow Romance, Happy Ending, Groping, Edgeplay, Hand Jobs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Prostate Massage, First Time, Multiple Orgasms, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Homesickness, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Canon-Typical Violence, WWX Has a Rape/Non-Con Kink, Light Bondage, Light Masochism, Overstimulation, BAMF WWX, Stabbing, Near Death, Poisoning, Protective LWJ, Seduction Aphrodisiacs, OFCs, Snow and Ice, Snowball Fight, Lost Love, Falling In Love, Drunken Kissing, Sex Pollen, Submission, Subspace, Multiple Penetration, Love Confessions, full body restraint, Emotional Sex, Reincarnation) OP from #10 here, someone asked for the Plant!LWJ fic I mentioned? It was this series

blossoms at the roadside by bleuett (T, 12k, WangXian, Different First Meeting, Getting Together, Tenderness, Gardens & Gardening, Happy Ending, a little sprinkle of touch starvation, wangxian going 0 to 100 in seconds, Hand Feeding) In the process of finding the other, there was also this one I remembered, and thought, why not include both?

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11. hello! i'm looking for established relationship modern au wangxian fics, please! bottom wwx/lwj top only 🙏🏽💖

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12. Itmf fics where wwx got good or excellent reputation!! @whateverweilanlovechild

It's so sad that there are no fics where Wei Ying got good reputation 😭. I'm changing my itmf, please do one on fics where Wei Wuxian is loved by a collective people, like people of yunmeng or people of yilling. Something like that?

❤️ The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (T, 20k, wangxian, In-Universe RPF, Romance Novel, Post-Canon Fix-It, primarily drama-canon with cameos from novel-canon, The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli [Podfic] by Rhea314 (Rhea))

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13. Sorry I just put in a request but I started thinking about wen ning, which made me sad soooo do you have anything wen ning centric? Thank you so much, have a good day @twlaei

Truth, Like an Arrow by Nahiel (T, 3k, WangXian, Technically this is a death fic, but I don't think it's sad, Time Travel Fix-It, POV Outsider, Sort Of, I don't know this fic is weird, assisted second death, but i still don't think it's sad, wn thinks poorly of himself, the author doesn't share this opinion, CQL Verse) Short Wen Ning-centric time travel fix it

do not go gentle by RoseThorne (G, <1k, WN & WQ, WWX & WQ, LSZ & WQ, major character death, Canonical Character Death, Spirits, Ghosts, LWJ Plays Inquiry, Song: Inquiry, Protectiveness, Grief/Mourning, Love, Acceptance, Family, Angst, Podfic Welcome, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV WN)

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14. Hii I'm wondering if there are fics where wangxian gain some sort of power that changes events in canon? @karinasnowwwx

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15. hi <3 i'd love to ask if there are any new-ish fics about the core transfer going wrong? it's been a couple of years since i went looking, for stuff like 'impossible remains' by jengabears etc (could be much less angsty like the transfer simply not working ahaha)

Drowning in the Sun by Zelos (T, 8k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Transfer, Canon-Typical Violence, Brotherly Love, Sunshot Campaign, Family Dynamics, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, [Podfic] Drowning in the Sun by flamingwell) I hope this meets what you're looking for. The transfer succeeds and everybody is alive, but Jiang Cheng was aware and paralyzed the whole time…

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16. Hello everyone, I’m in the mood for heartbreaking and saddest wangxian fics you know.

I want it to be wangxian centric, no yunmeng bros or JC focus and I don’t care if it’s canon compliant or au. I’m ok with omegaverse but not with omega LWJ.

Thank you all in advance and for all your hard work @kanrax-blog

Wei Wuxian Makes a Wish series by natcat5 (M, 119k, wangxian, major character death, underage, madoka magica au, modern w/ magic, time travel, high school au, body horror, self-harm, angst w/ bittersweet ending, time loop, mental instability, suicidal thoughts)

Concord by Deastar (T, 41k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Gūsū Lán Sect Rules, Depression, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

我的皇后是農民 | sowing seeds in the cold palace by sweetlolixo (E, 78k, WangXian, Imperial Palace, Emperor LWJ, Imperial Consort WWX, Farmer WWX, Only WWX Could Have an Empress to Farmer Pipeline, Angst, Romance, Wingman LJY, Wife-chasing-LWJ, LWJ will grovel to the ends of the earth to make it up to WWX don't worry, Arranged Marriage, Best Boy A-Yuan, not LWJ friendly)

the heartlines on our hands by occultings (microcomets) (E, 47k, WangXian, Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, First Time, Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death)

in wild plums and river willows by SnowshadowAO3 (T, 17k, WangXian, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Canon Universe, Grief/Mourning, descriptions of physical pain, alcohol mention, Fatherhood, The importance of legacy, Living for your dead love's semi-adopted child, Hurt/Comfort, Hallucinations vs. ghosts and not fully knowing the difference because you're grieving, Canon Temporary Character Death, Grief and love as inherent bedfellows)

总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near) by yiqie (E, 76k, WangXian, Modern AU, Pianist, Getting Together, Mental Health Issues, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Hospitals, Overdosing, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Additional Warnings In Author's Note) mind the tags on this one

both are cathartic-sad

When the Words Stop Coming by mrcformoso (G, 7k, WangXian, Canon Compliant, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Canonical Character Death, Love Confessions, Rejection, LWJ is a Panicked Gay, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Trauma, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending)

New Perspective by mrcformoso (T, 8k, WangXian, Angst, Hopeful Ending, Fatherhood, Regrets, Flashbacks, POV LWJ, LWJ-centric, Canonical Character Death - WWX, Pining LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings, LWJ Needs a Hug, Character Development, Dead WWX, Introspection, Feelings, LWJ is Bad at Feelings, Character Study, Regretful LWJ, Breaking Toxic Cycles, Canon Compliant, LWJ in Seclusion, Post-LWJ, in Seclusion, Child LSZ)

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17. Hello to you all! My semester just ended and now I'm free for a week probably? I do have hundreds of fics downloaded but yk it, it's never enough >ᴗ< so ITMF Nie Mingjue - Lan Xichen - Wei WuXian friendship. Well WWX's friendship with either of them is fine as well. It doesn't matter if it's older or younger WWX. Both canonverse as well as modern era fics are welcome ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა @tinyfoxpeach

Tumblr Fic by @shanastoryteller

Been There, Done That by FlautistsandPeonies (G, 34k, wangxian, NMJ & WWX & LXC, WN & WWX & WQ, LWJ & LXC & LQR, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Not Everyone Dies au, WWX Canon Genius, Single Father WWX, Father-Son Relationship, NMJ/WWX/LXC Sworn Brotherhood, Sunshot Campaign, jc canon characteristics, YLLZ WWX, WIP)

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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic recs #i'm in the mood for a fic #the untamed #wangxian fic search #wangxianficfinder #long post

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luna-rainbow · 18 days

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Thanks again for answering my ask and sorry to bombard you with these.

I absolutely agree with you about Bucky and Zemo on TFatWS. This might be long as I have so many thoughts about this. The series seems to fail to understand T'Calla wasn't just someone who helped Bucky although he was of course. He was his friend. The movies don't get everything right with Bucky but I think Bucky and T'Calla's relationship is one of the high points. We don't see them much but when you do you can tell Bucky respected T'Calla immensely and not just because he's a King. He seems to be really genuinely fond of Shuri as well, asking her to call him Bucky instead of the formal Sargeant Barnes.

I know I said it before, but the Wakandans are his friends/his protectors/his adoptive family. He is not just some white guy with colonialist arrogance who expects favours from the African State. If anything its the other way around- he fought because he felt he owed T'Calla and his family a debt.

As such- I do not think he would ever have helped the person who killed T'Callas father. Yes he didn't know T'Chaka, but that is his friend's father. Its like if he found out someone killed Steve's mother and worked with them. Like slapping his friend in the face, and I can't see him doing that.

Also, finally can we talk about how the show robbed us of the emotional impact of T'Challa's death on Bucky? He's sad about Steve leaving but I firmly believe would have grieved for T'Calla too. He's lost not one but two of his best friends within a very short space of time, so he's got grief alongside all his other problems to deal with. Don't know how that man managed to stay sane. Well relatively sane and didn't have a complete breakdown.

Thanks for all the asks!

I love the idea that T'Challa and Bucky had a strong bond. I agree I think Ryan Coogler intended in that short post-credit scene to show that Wakandans have accepted Bucky as part of the family.

The kids are peering down curiously at him as he sleeps, and he doesn't startle, nor does he startle them when he wakes. There's a high degree of mutual trust there. He lives in their community, not in a boxed off high tech room like the one where he was put to sleep. They dressed him in their ethnic clothing and colour-coded it to match Steve. Someone tied (and probably combed) his hair for him when he didn't have a prosthesis. Someone has folded a blue shawl and tied it into a pretty sling to protect the stump of his arm. This is the image of a guy that was being well looked after -- not just in an impersonal, we gotta keep him alive kind of way, but in a what can we do to make his life better kind of way, and if that isn't some sort of family I don't know what is.

I mean...compare with this costume...that looks like some random sweatshirt from some sports brand worn backwards with the extra fabric pinned and pulled over tautly over his right shoulder, complete with the soft elastic cuffs and the weird neckline. Coogler put more effort into a 30 second cameo than TFATWS did for one of Bucky's most emotionally poignant scenes in a series where he's the main character. Sorry I'm never going to pass on an opportunity to shit on the series.

And like yeah, while I don't ship T'Challa and Bucky (I really like T'Challa with Nakia in the MCU), I think they're an underrated dynamic. They strike me as somewhat similar in temperament? Both peace-loving, respectful and compassionate guys, who have a strong sense of loyalty and a fierce streak when someone they love is hurt. And both Bucky and T'Challa are older brothers to younger sisters, and they both have that oldest kid sense of weary responsibility. And for someone who was broken out of 70 years of brainwashing by being reminded of a promise he made, Bucky clearly has a strong sense of loyalty and responsibility.

So yeah, it makes no sense to me that Bucky would actively do something so personally hurtful, so disloyal and irresponsible to T'Challa, without adequate justification.

As for the mourning, yeah. At the time they didn't know how Coogler was planning to write T'Challa out of the story, so that might be why the mourning wasn't in there. To be honest, Bucky's feelings about Steve was handled poorly too. As I've mentioned before, the series avoids actually addressing how Steve's departure played out. Sam and Bucky are sad about Steve's absence, but never talk about the hurtful way Endgame!Steve abandoned both of them, which is far more emotionally relevant. They talk about him as though he had died in a noble sacrifice, not dumped the world on them and went to mess up someone else's timeline.

#bucky barnes #t'challa #asks

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fanfoolishness · 2 years

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As you all know I've been rabid for Severance the past few weeks, and I've been mulling over various theories, ideas and character arcs. But I did notice that food is a running theme on the show: food, its absence, its uses, its meaning.

Severance is a show about connections, what happens when we lose or lack them, and how we can grow by developing these connections and relationships to other. Food is often used as shorthand for community and togetherness, and Severance uses food -- or the lack of it -- to help underscore these bonds, whether broken or whole.

Mark, a grieving, alcoholic widower, is rarely shown to eat. His normal post-work routine is beer or whiskey or wine on the couch. There's no montage of him even making a lonely bachelor dinner. He typically eschews food entirely outside of his interactions with others.

When Devon tries to pull him out of his house and away from himself, knowing the anniversary of his wife's death is approaching, they find themselves in a dinnerless dinner party, a pretentious, masturbatory bit of nonsense. The participants describe food as mere fuel for higher things, and not worthy of weight in and of itself. But these are hollow people, tactless and empty. Their relationships are plastic. There is nothing real about them, and thus, nothing real about their "dinner party."

The only real relationship that is explored here is Mark and Devon's.

Which is where we see the healthiest, freshest, and most filling meal of the show, lit with golden warmth, made by Devon and given to Mark. Their relationship is real, their connections are real. Their food is real. Devon asks Mark about therapy (he's not going) and Mark drinks from a hip flask (he's ill, but doesn't feel a need to hide it from Devon). The food in this scene underlines the strength of their bond.

Mark's other attempts at meals go less well. Mrs. Selvig/Cobel nearly force feeds him cookies; he eats them out of politeness, but the batch of burned ones in her kitchen shows that the effort to connect in this way is doomed. He goes to Pip's VIP area and is accosted by Petey before his food ever arrives. Later he and Petey share a pizza, but we don't see Mark eating, and the pizza looks sad and listless. Petey is trying to form a connection with him, but Mark is unable or unwilling to reciprocate.

A relationship that Mark does truly try to cultivate is that with Alexa. However, it doesn’t go well. His first date with Alexa is entirely foodless, though he orders a second whiskey while they sit with empty plates. He ruins the date later by aggressively arguing with people downtown, his defensiveness fueled by whiskey, and heads home alone for a beer.

The best he manages to do with Alexa is to decline alcohol at his second dinner with her and enjoy some fries -- and this is their healthiest interaction, where they mutually extend the date and Alexa comes home with him. Food as connection.

Contrast ordering whiskey number 2 in an empty restaurant on their first date, with being good with only water and having at least fries in a restaurant that shows more warmth, more liveliness, other couples. It's a healthier step, and one that almost gets Mark to a better place, until he runs out on Alexa in the middle of the night.

His worst meal, and the only time we see himself having his own food in his house, is when he scours the news for information on Graner's murder, makes an ass of himself to Alexa, tears up Gemma's photo, and grieves her more than ever. This is not sustaining. This is not healthy. It's a fucking bag of potato chips and a bottle of whiskey for dinner.

In contrast, innie Mark doesn't fare much better. The food at Lumon is doled out purely as soulless rewards for work the innies must perform. The food is precisely regulated, either with tokens or with Milchick's falsely cheerful deliveries of bizarrely regimented melons and eggs. Lunches are provided and noted on the list of the senior refiner's duties, but we never see the innies get to enjoy them, if they are indeed enjoyable. Food is fuel. Food is incentive. Food is out of their control.

Even the vaunted waffle party, lauded all season, requires taking a refiner away from their team so they can eat alone, where they then put on a mask and watch other people in masks. Food as separation. Food that encourages distance rather than fostering closeness.

But slowly, the innies begin to band together. They realize their prison is cold and cruel, that they have been deprived of basic, vital, precious relationships. Helly realizes that her own escape is not enough, and she wants the others to find freedom too. Dylan realizes corporate incentives mean nothing in the face of his son’s embrace — and he insists the others deserve the same chance to experience their own lives. Mark begins to realize through Ricken’s book and their new experiences that self-worth and community are vital goals. And Irving realizes his love for Burt is beautiful, Kier be damned.

The egg bar, coveted as fuck, is actually good. So is their teamwork. Their friendship. Their connections, finally recognized by all of them as more important than punishment or toeing the line or making it through another day.

So they plan their rebellion, their chance to break through to the outside world, to honor their mutual struggle and their bond. Dylan gazes upon his reward, a glass cube of all of them united; and Irving, excited, determined, triumphant, says:

“Let’s find out what’s for dinner.”

#severance meta #severance #mark scout #MDR #Devon hale #my macrodata refinement #severance spoilers

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madsworld15 · 2 months

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Part 2 of Heal Me, Hold Me, Make Me, Know Me

Part of my Asexual as Folk series

I won't be able to write much this weekend, so I am hoping this installment will tide people over until either Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Twenty minutes later, Brian stood up and walked back inside the hospital. He didn’t want to have to make any decisions about Justin’s care, but if Jennifer needed him to help her, he would. He couldn’t exactly say what had changed his mind, but it came down to the fact that he didn’t want anyone to have to be alone in all this. He and Jennifer included.

Weird. I’ve always pushed myself to be independent and not need love. Now, here I am, deciding that if she asks me again, I will make a decision with her about her son. Her son, who I care deeply about, against my better judgment.

When he stepped back inside, he found Debbie standing off to the side, talking to Daphne, who was crying, and Michael, who was not. Brian knew he should talk to Daphne, they had a mutual bond because of Justin, and she deserved to hear about it from him. But, he was still so numb and adrift after the meeting with the doctor. He wasn’t sure he could handle all of Daphne’s emotions on top of that.

So, instead, he turned toward the other end of the hall, where he was certain Jennifer would still be. Without a word to his family, Brian headed toward Justin’s. He hadn’t taken more than two steps when he felt a hand envelope his own. He looked down to see long, slender fingers. Without looking up, he knew that they belonged to Emmett. Bless that sweet man for always knowing the right thing to do in a crisis. Brian was closer to Michael, even when they were distant from each other, like now, but Michael was useless in situations where emotions ran high. No, Brian didn’t need Michael right now; he needed Emmett.

The two men arrive at the conference room once more and find Jennifer sitting where Brian had left her. She had her cell phone in her left hand and a crumpled tissue in her right. A pile of used tissues sat on the table in front of her. She was staring, unseeing, straight ahead. Emmett immediately sat down next to her while Brian hung back. He’d been touching and hugging people more in the last 5 hours than he had in the last 5 years. He was at his limit.

“It was his birthday.” Jennifer’s statement came out in a whisper, wettened by the tears still flowing down her face.

That one sentence broke Brian. His knees buckled, and he had to force himself into a chair of his own. How had he forgotten it was Justin’s birthday? What god and what universe allows a person to be attacked an inch of his life on his birthday?

“Fuck.” Brian let his breath out, and the tears started anew.

Emmett squeezed Jennifer against his side as he also reached for Brian’s hand.

“What can I do?” He asked, looking between the two people he was trying to keep steady.

Jennifer bit her lip and then finally turned her head toward them. “I called his father. He’s not coming. It seems he believes Justin brought this on himself.”

The anger within Brian bubbled to the surface, and he clenched his fists, forgetting that Emmett had one in his grip. He couldn’t believe a parent would be so heartless as to say he deserved to be bashed. And to say it to his obviously grieving ex-wife, the mother of said child? Unforgivable.

“I thought my dad was bad.” Brian spat out, the words feeling like fire on his tongue.

Jennifer gave a wet laugh, “Craig is, well, he’s something. I just regret that it took me until now to officially leave him. Justin deserved better.”

They all fell silent for some time. Brian could hear every tick of the clock on the wall. He wanted to know if Jennifer had made any decisions yet, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Emmett, who hated silences, even if they were comfortable, cleared his throat and spoke up.

“What matters most is that you are here now. He is lying there in the ICU, broken and bruised, in need of his mom, and you are here.” Jennifer nodded to indicate that she understood.

“I’m sorry.” Brian’s voice filled the empty space left behind when Emmett stopped talking.

“Brian –” Emmett started to reassure him that he had nothing to apologize for, but Brian shrugged him off.

“I should have followed him out of the club. I shouldn’t have been a colossal jackass to him in the days leading up to this. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have felt the need to go to Babylon.” Brian rambled, his eyes fixed on his hands that were still in fists.

“Brian, YOU are NOT to blame.” Emmett’s words came out firm but loving. “You didn’t punch him and kick him. In fact, you have only ever respected him and cared about him.”

“As for Babylon, I was the one who urged him to go out for his birthday. He just wanted to have a quiet night in and watch movies. If we are going to play a blame game for why he was there, then I am the reason, not you.”

“Neither of you are to blame.” Jennifer butted in. “You both were there for him when I refused to be. We can’t sit here and blame ourselves for the actions of those three who attacked him. We all have to be strong and support him through the road ahead.”

She paused, got up from her seat, and moved closer to Brian. Then, surprising him, she leaned over and wrapped him in a hug.

“You heard the doctor. Justin has multiple surgeries and months of rehab to look forward to. He’s going to need people there to support him.”

Brian hesitated before he wrapped his arms around Justin’s mom as well. He breathed in her vanilla scent and allowed her warm embrace to comfort him. Here was a woman who had every right to hate him. He was much older than her son and was Justin’s chosen partner. Instead, she chose to love and appreciate his presence in her son’s life. This was all foreign territory for Brian. Most people immediately criticized his influence on the people he cared about, thinking he was too selfish. But, Mrs. Taylor was here accepting him as he was for the sake of her son. A small voice at the back of Brian’s brain told him not to get comfortable and that she would probably turn on him eventually. But for now, he was going to soak up this feeling. It helped to keep his fears at bay.

Jennifer pulled back, “We should probably go and update the others, Daphne and…that woman…”

“Debbie.” Emmett and Brian said at once. They shared a small smile.

“Yes, Debbie. We should update them.” Jennifer stood up and grabbed her purse. She deposited all the used tissues in the trash, wiped the tear tracks from her face, and put on a fake smile before she left the room.

Emmett followed her soon after, but Brian hung back briefly. He needed to compose himself. It was one thing to allow Emmett and Jennifer to see him break down. He couldn’t do that in front of Daphne. While it wasn’t the first time Debbie or Michael would’ve seen him crack under pressure, he wasn’t in the mood for their comfort right now.

He needed to be sure that when he went out there, his demeanor reflected the stoic person he always was. It would encourage the huggers of the group to leave him alone. Which, if Debbie could be counted on for anything, it was running her mouth. He was sure more people probably arrived by now to stand vigil for someone they didn’t really know but mattered to Brian, so they cared. Sure enough, upon reaching the part of the hallway where he’d left Debbie before, he found Lindsay and Ted had joined the group.

“Doesn’t anyone have anything better to do? It’s not like he knows you are here.” Brian rolled his eyes and pulled out his cigarettes. He knew he couldn’t smoke inside, but damn did he want to.

“Then why are you here?” Mikey whined from his spot next to Debbie.

Brian shook his head slightly in disbelief, pinched the bridge of his nose, and finally responded.

“Because he’s my bo— because we are seeing each other.” Brian caught himself before he said the dreaded word, but a look around revealed that Debbie, Lindsay, and Emmett were giving each other knowing smiles.

“I’m grateful that someone has been here with him since it happened.” Daphne stepped forward and moved to touch Brian’s arm, but he took a step back.

“Yeah, well, someone had to. He was pretty beat up.” Brian shrugged and tried to act nonchalantly.

“I was there too.” Michael started to chime in, but Brian stepped up to him and cut him off.

“You stood there and didn’t do shit!” His frustration at the whole situation poured out of him and landed on the one thing he could control — Michael.

“Fuck off, Brian! He wouldn’t have been out there if you’d paid him any attention!” Michael spat back, his words having no truth to them but still cutting deep.

“The two of you need to stop!” Debbie got between them, giving them both a stern mother look.

“Maybe if you’d done something, they wouldn’t have been able to kick his head and cause his brain to swell!” Brian threw at Michael despite Debbie’s admonishment.

“Brian!” Debbie turned all her attention to him. “I know you are hurting, and when that happens, you make those around you hurt, but placing the blame on Michael isn’t fair, and you know it.”

Brian was so angry at everything going on that he couldn’t even see straight. He knew Debbie was right, but it didn’t help that her son wanted to try and claim he was there for Justin when he wasn’t. He’s never once cared for the blonde ever.

“I’m going to get a coffee.” Brian stepped away from Daphne and the Novotnys.

“I think we should all go home and get some rest. We can come back in a few hours, in shifts, to visit him during visiting hours.” Debbie said, looking around at the family like she meant business. “That includes you, Brian. You need sleep, honey.”

The thought of going home terrified Brian. Even if Jennifer was there to keep an eye on him, Brian couldn’t imagine going across town to his loft right now. It was too far away.

“Debbie, is it?” Jennifer finally stepped forward, “I think Brian should stay here. Just in case something happens. I don’t want to be here alone.”

Brian would never be able to say it, but in that moment, he thought Jennifer was heaven on earth.

*****

As the sun rose, Brian sat in that sterile hallway. Jennifer was right next to him with her hand on his knee. After Debbie and everyone else had left, Brian had calmed down enough to allow Jennifer to give him the barest of touches in the hours since she hadn’t moved her hand, not once.

Brian leaned to the right, allowing his right arm to support his head. He knew he should probably sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Justin lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. It was something he would give up his loft and all the money in his bank account to never see again.

He heard a muffled noise next to him. It sounded like voices, but he couldn’t make out the words. Brian rubbed his eyes and straightened up. He looked over to Jennifer and found her looking at him expectantly.

“Huh?” Brian stifled a yawn.

“I asked what you do. What’s your job? I’m assuming you have one.”

Brian let out a chuckle. “Advertising Executive.”

For the first time since Justin had jumped off the stage at Babylon Brian smiled, genuinely smiled.

“Sorry. You reminded me of Justin just then. He would’ve smirked at me and said, ‘Assuming you have a job’.” Brian ducked his head and stared at his hands, which he had his right grasping his left with the thumb and forefinger applying pressure to his left palm.

“Don’t apologize,” Jennifer whispered. “I love knowing that others appreciate his sarcasm and wit like I do. He’s always been so much brighter than his peers. He got a 1500 on his SAT. Did you know that?”

Brian shook his head, then tilted his chin up so he could make sideways eye contact with the woman next to him.

“But I’m not surprised. He told me once his father wanted him to go to Dartmouth. I knew then he was smarter than I could ever hope to be.”

Jennifer reached across and separated his hands in order to clasp his left one between both of hers.

“I don’t know you very well, Brian, but I know you are kinder and smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

Brian scoffed. But stopped the minute Jennifer continued.

“You saved my son's life. I will always be grateful to you for that.”

Brian’s throat thickened, and tears threatened to fall once more. He was saved from responding by the appearance of Justin’s doctor.

“Mrs. Taylor, it’s still not visiting hours, but we decided as a group that Justin might benefit from human contact that isn’t his medical team.” The doctor took a deep breath. “Would you like to see your son?”

Then he paused briefly before adding, “You can come too, Mr.” And then he looked stressed that he didn’t know Brian’s name.

“Kinney. My name is Brian Kinney.” He stood up and walked with Jennifer down a completely different hallway.

“Be aware Justin is still unconscious and on the ventilator. But we were able to lower his settings and hope that by tomorrow he can be weaned off.”

Brian and Jennifer silently nodded their heads. He found himself grabbing onto Jennifer’s hand and holding on tight. His brain couldn’t make up its mind whether or not he wanted to be touched. Most of the time it all felt too much, but as they walked toward the door that Justin lay behind, Brian felt the need to have something grounding him or else he might float away.

How could it be that this young man has changed his whole center of being in just 6 months?

Brian held his breath as they arrived at Justin’s room. He could see him through the glass doors and adjoining columns of windows. For someone whose personality made him brighter than sunshine and bigger than life, Justin was now so pale and small.

The sounds of the ventilator worked in tandem with the steady beat of Justin’s heart monitor. If it weren’t for the bandage around his head and his hand propped on pillows with rods sticking up out of it, Brian could easily say he was sleeping. In fact, Justin looked so similar to all those early mornings that Brian woke up to find him in the bed next to him.

“He looks as though he could wake up any moment,” Jennifer spoke his thoughts out loud. Brian just nodded.

He removed his hand from Jennifer’s, and she immediately moved in, placing her loving hands against any visible part of his face she could find.

“Oh, Justin. I’m here. And Brian’s here. You aren’t alone.” At Jennifer’s words, Brian sat in the chair on the other side of the bed and squeezed Justin’s leg.

“I’m right here. I see your hurt, Justin Taylor.”

If Jennifer was curious about Brian’s words, she didn’t say. Brian was grateful for that. He sat there silently, watching Justin’s heart beat out the steady rhythm. For the briefest of moments, he wondered if he should pray to God. But then he remembered he didn’t believe in that sort of thing. All those years of being forced to sit in a church and pray for absolution from sins he never committed turned him away from any kind of all-powerful being.

As if she could sense his thoughts, Jennifer spoke. “Do you believe in God, Brian?”

Brian shook his head, not wanting to say too much, but then one more look at Justin, and he changed his mind.

“I was raised in the Catholic church. My mom forced me to go multiple times a week until I was 12. Then I got taller than her and simply refused to go. I already knew I was gay and couldn’t bear sitting through lecture after lecture about how I was going against God. How could God create me as I was supposed to be but then hate me?” Brian shrugged.

“So, I stopped going. Met my best friend, Michael and went to Sunday dinners at his house instead.”

“I was never an avid churchgoer, but I guess you could say I believe. In times like this, I feel like it’s all I have.”

Jennifer ran her hands along Justin’s blankets, tucking them or straightening them where she saw fit. After a few minutes of this she looked up at Brian, and gave him a sad smile.

“You wouldn’t understand, but when you become a parent, the person you once were stops existing, and in its place is someone who would do anything for that child in your arms. If I could trade places with him right now, I would.”

“I do know. I have a son.” Brian licked his lips and allowed his mind to turn to Gus for the briefest of moments.

“That’s right. Justin drew a picture of you and him for the art show.”

“Gus.” Brian forced a smile and looked up at Jennifer.

She smiled to herself, “You know, Justin had a stuffed bear when he was little that he named Gus.”

“No, I didn’t know that.” Brian smiled back at her.

“But, I’m not a father.” Brian had become too uncomfortable with his vulnerability, so he put his walls back up. “I simply gave a donation so that my friends could have a child.”

Jennifer’s hand landed on top of Brian’s, “I would hazard to guess Justin sees you better than anyone else. And since he drew you taking care of your son, I’d say you are a dad.”

#queer as folk #brian kinney #justin taylor #fanfiction #alternate universe #asexual spectrum representation

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thestupidhelmet · 10 months

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If the original writers had stuck around for the eighth season and we'd gotten a Jackie/Hyde endgame possibly ending with their wedding, do you think the writers of the reboot would have destroyed that in favor of pairing Jackie with Kelso the way they broke up Jackie and Fez? Or do you think there's a chance their endgame would have been preserved? For some reason, I feel like J/H shippers would have been screwed no matter what due to real life stuff.

Many of the original writers stayed, and some of them wrote great J/H episodes before season 8. The show runners changed from the J/H-loving Filgos to the J/H hating duo who took the job afterward.

If season 7 hadn't been decided to be last season and originally written as the end of the show, the Filgos likely would've stuck around to finish out the series (if it was just one more season). As far as everyone on T7S was concerned, S7 was it, and people started looking for new gigs, including the Filgos.

The writers take story direction from he showrunners. If the Filgos had stayed for S8, they would've had to deal with Eric's absence and Kelso's mostly absence. I'd like to believe they would've made sure both characters were still part of the show even if offscreen.

Jackie and Hyde would've been engaged (as in the originally-written S7/series finale). A lot of humor could've been derived from that. Red/Kitty and Jackie/Hyde likely would've had a lot of stories together, comparing and contrasting a long-married couple to a newly-engaged one (which isn't the direction taken during E/D's engagement arc).

W.B. would've been utilized more, hopefully with his character (and relationship with Hyde) fleshed out instead of just punchlines.

Fez would grieve over Kelso, a storyline of its own. He and Donna could bond over their mutual losses. At some point, Fez might misinterpret his new friendship-closeness as romantic, and Donna would have to shut him down. She's still in love with Eric, and she's waiting for him. Ez would think about this a moment and say, "And I will wait for Kelso, too."

Donna: But Kelso's not coming back. He's living with Brooke and their baby in Chicago.

Fez: Then I will go to him.

Donna: And do what?

Fez (emotional): Tell him I love him!

Donna: Okay, when you say *love* ...

Fez: Love, woman! Can't one man love another man in this country without everyone else being weird about it?!

Donna: I suppose father and sons, brothers --

Fez: And best friends. Now good day.

Donna: Fez, we're in my house.

Fez: I said good day!

Out of this we get an episode where Fez visits Kelso in Chicago. Unfortunately the actress who played Brooke didn't love being on the show, but maybe she'd do one guest spot like she did in S7.

What I would love is if Fez runs into Rhonda in Chicago, and the second half of season 8 for Fez is about them reconciling.

Jackie and Donna s storylines have a lot of potential, too. Jackie might say she understands what Donna's going through with having a long-distance relationship.

Donna: Oh? Do tell.

Jackie: Steven has to go to Milwaukee every few weeks for work. That's, like, an hour away, and sometimes he's there the whole weekend to spend time with family.

Donna: Jackie, Eric is across the ocean on another continent. I get letters from him twice a week. I haven't heard his voice in months. Hyde going to Milwaukee for a weekend doesn't compare -- and you go with him for a lot of the overnights.

Jackie: Well, fine. If you don't want my sympathy, you don't have to have it.

Donna and Jackie reconcile sooner than later, though, and Jackie helps Donna come up with the best care package for Eric ever, which Kitty gets nosy about. She tries to slip in a few items her own, and Red catches her. This leads to their story in that episode.

We also have Bob, whom might not have planned to move to Florida but started to date another woman, played by a famous actress (as T7S is wont to do). Maybe someone totally inappropriate for him or insane, which gives him a story arc with all the main characters who have to deal with this new presence and her weird effect on Bob. Not a Caroline/Fez rehash, though.

All in all, I hope the Filgos would feel free to let humor and plot rise organically from characterization. No more alcoholism for Kitty and no put-upon cliche TV husband for Red. R/K would get their due with their characters, evolving as the circumstances around them have changed (e.g., no Eric, J/H engaged, an ever-present Fez and Donna, etc.)

#that 70s show #that '70s show #Jackie x Hyde #Red x Kitty #Eric x Donna #Ask #Anon #My Meta #My Essay #Meta #Essay #Ficlet

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catoscloves · 1 year

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it's a little off putting to me that daisy called the six her family (which yes i understand that they were one and that they cared for each other, and that this included daisy as well) but the primary and only consistent interactions she had on the show were her and billy so essentially, the only developed relationship of the show was the billy/daisy/camila love triangle? yes there were scenes where she was being silly around them and having fun which is obviously the kind of environment you would have around people you're comfortable with but that doesn't really match up to the found family concept or emotionally resonate because there was little depth and nuanced development in those moments, compared to the way camila was integrated in the group and earned her place in there. she was billy's wife and mother of his child and dedicated to helping the band on their journey/working as a part of their team, eddie adored her because they had the childhood friends thing, her and karen had the 'us girls have to stick together' bond, she treated graham as if he were her own little brother, and warren..... well i guess his main relationship on the show was the drugs he was always on lmao so camila didn't talk to him too much.

but if you compare the consistent and genuine emotional bond camila had to the original five members of the six, and the lacking, lazy relationship daisy had to them (with the exception of karen maybe as it's clear they had a mutual affection and respect for one another, and obviously camila and daisy, while initially sharing this, had a falling out since daisy almost destroyed camila's marriage - not that she's fully to blame of course, billy was just as wrong and disloyal and daisy was), it feels a little odd that they had different reactions to grieving the loss of their family unit, and to me it's somewhat reversed from what i would have expected. daisy obviously has attachment to the six, but she barely talked to eddie or graham or even looked at them for that matter, and she (rightfully) told warren that it's not her job to conceal her legs just because he finds them attractive which basically summarizes their level of interaction on the show other than a few seconds clips of them being high together. karen was always kind to daisy so that's the only believable loss for her since while camila was welcoming and nurturing toward daisy the damage done to that relationship was not repairable, and then there's obviously billy i guess? there was that sweet moment of the guys coming to her aid when she was confronting nicky and being gentlemen, but it just didn't feel like they had bonded as much, especially not compared to the way camila held together the family unit and made their little band space a home for everyone, which is why it's odd that daisy was so emotional over leaving them but camila didn't seem particularly concerned about not having the band together ever again.

i just wish daisy had actually talked to the band more and kind of had substantial relationships outside billy because it would make the scene where simone reminds her that she left family before all the more impactful, if that makes any sense?

#djats #daisy jones and the six #anna watches tv #djat #djats lb

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thelittlestspider · 1 year

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I need to know about the polycule,, what are the internal dynamics? is there any jealousy, possessiveness etc.?

i think to really get into the polycule i have to talk about the og ships first, then segue into the ones formed later on. so this is probably gonna be pretty long lol.

joe/carter: joe and carter are connected to each other in some cosmic way they don't really understand. they're each other's rock in a sea of evil. they're soulmates. they did not start off that way lol.

joe and carter became partners after they went through basically the entire sector and got paired together because they couldn't work on a day to day basis with anyone else. after a rocky start eventually they bond and become friends, leading to a brief romance that would haunt them for years until they met again.

joe and carter fantasized about running away together and starting a new life, but felt too bound by their responsibility to the others to even think about it as possible.

once they do get married, it's kind of trial and error. they have to learn to communicate with each other again so they can figure out where the boundaries are and how to navigate around their issues (they end up going to therapy, which helps).

ray/scott: ray and scott are soulmates basically. they met when they were kids and it was pretty much love at first sight (even though they didn't recognize it at the time).

they don't realize they have feelings for each other until they're like in their 20s, even though they've been each other's number 1 since forever (everyone thinks ray and scott are secretly married or think they're hopeless because they're oblivious to the fact they're basically married).

peter/javier: peter and javier are best friends who have known each other since they were ten. they met during murder camp and after some murder attempts became inseparable. these two cannot imagine what their lives would have been like had they not met each other.

i think one of the reasons that they fell so hard for carter was that they sort of gave them their freedom without even realizing it. because they had imagined what it would be like to run away and be able to get married and start a life together a million times, but carter killing alastair made that possible. which is like the greatest gift that someone has ever given them.

joe/ray/scott/(carter): these three had a rough beginning that was only going to get rougher. it sort of began as them bonding when they thought carter was dead and they were in mourning. then things got fucked up when joe and scott realized that not only had they met before, they were in this whole relationship that got erased that's felt like a limb that got cut off that they didn't even know they were missing.

ray doesn't really know where she fits in their relationship. she was in the beginning stages of something with scott and carter but carter's gone and now she's in limbo with scott and this grieving man she barely knows.

ray goes through a nervous breakdown and a bad breakup with alec, and some other stuff and like basically sort of a divorce arc where they find out later that carter is alive (carter left a message on ray's phone saying they're alive in salvation, but ray's phone gets lost? while she's running from ranch goons and it gets recovered later somehow. how i don't know yet lol). joe leaves to go find carter and ray and scott are so miserable because they love him so much. then they decide to go after him and all of them be together.

peter/carter/javier: there wasn't really any jealousy here, because they mutually decided they wanted to marry carter the minute carter handed their asses to them and killed their abuser.

in their love language carter might as well have put up a neon sign saying marriage material. carter flees necropolis to meet their sibling in red dog and peter and javier follow carter, starting a beautiful, naive, idiot courtship that carter is very resistant to (at first).

like the first thing peter and javier do after getting married is start stealing a bunch of shit (peter), and joining the bounty hunters guild (javier) to buy a house for the three of them to live in.

i know what you're thinking, "that's insane. why would they do that?" because 1) they were raised in a murder camp where the only people they had was each other. 2) they've only been with each other by this point (until patrice). 3) because of this they're kind of naive, and they don't really know how regular courtship works. if they weren't so incredibly sincere i'd be like, "girl, run for it!"

peter/javier/patrice: i think peter was kind of jealous of patrice when she and javier started dating because patrice was pretty and 'normal.' but patrice was kind to him and they developed a friendship. patrice lives in her own place even after they get married because she likes her space, and they respect it.

a lot of carter's resistance to them is because they think peter and javier are still out to get them, then later it's because of carter's issues. but they eventually come around and they end up married later on.

i think the real friction comes in when carter refuses to put up with peter's feral gremlin nonsense lol. javier's so used to peter climbing all over him and knocking things out of his hands to get to him that he just kind of accepted his fate. carter absolutely will not put up with it lol.

they're fine with peter being clingy, but if he knocks stuff out of their hands or out of their lap they will tell him exactly what they think about it and deny him kisses, which he cannot abide by (javier feels bad for being thankful that carter has domesticated peter into being a better husband, but mentally he thanks carter for their service lol).

javier and patrice have a quiet, passionate relationship with mutual love and respect (not that peter/javier don't also have that in their own way. it's just different). they're the kind of couple that can share a thousand words with just a look. they also have a mutual interest in death (javier because of his upbringing/religion, and patrice being a mortician in training).

i don't know if peter and patrice have romantic interest in each other, but they do get married for convenience.

carter/patrice: carter and patrice worked at the roadhouse together, so they became friends before they married peter and javier. i imagine they're the sort of wives who drink coffee together while their husbands wrestle in the living room, and read novels together. (ray fits perfectly into this dynamic)

joe/javier and joe/peter: peter and javier were extremely jealous of joe because he's carter's 💖 long lost love 💖 and they were afraid carter was going to leave them for him. joe was sad at first because he thought he lost his shot with carter and then was happy when carter reassured him that they still loved him, then sort of like didn't know what to do about carter's jealous husbands lol.

basically they just like get in his face and are like, "if you break our wife's heart, we'll kill you" and joe's like, "are we about to kiss?" it doesn't really hit them how serious it is until joe moves in with them and like. commits himself to being not only a good husband to carter, but also them as well. then all the righteous anger and indignation just turns to horniness lol.

ray/javier: ray likes the quiet, honorable types and javier fits that to a t. she thinks he's very sweet, and terribly sexy when he's in his Serious mode.

scott/javier: once the chaos dies down these two form a quiet relationship where they just sort of chill together. scott and javier are like the laid back guys in the polycule. they could sit in the back yard in complete silence for hours holding hands and be completely comfortable.

ray/peter: i'm not really sure exactly what their dynamic is, but it's probably similar to peter/patrice.

peter/scott: i talked about them a little bit here, but i want to expand a little bit on it. i'm going to get nsfw here because once they get past the pettiness these two are demonically horny for each other and so stupid about it. imagine playing chicken with someone you know wants to have nasty sex with you because you're both too stubborn to lose.

#thepixiediaries #kimi replies #by the skin of my teeth tag #defect universe tag #carry me to places i have never traveled tag #the funny thing is joecarter were not even supposed to meet originally #carter was supposed to end up with violet and mateo #but then i wrote them for an au and they they decided they were in love

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firespirited · 4 months

Text

youtube

Lola Sebastian's essay on cannibals is beautifully written, has some very touching tangents, and the background music is all easter eggs that kept me giggling.

Trigger warnings for pretty much everything awful, press J to skip.

but it didn't quite hit. I think it's because cannibalism (when not a metaphor) isn't taboo at all for me, I know that it is for others and the many whys, just personally: not an ick at all.

As far as i'm concerned, once dead, a body is already being ravaged by decay within the next days. I strongly believe in respecting people's funeral rites and respecting grave sites to honour the dead, but I don't see any type of disposal as more holy or disrespectful than any other unless it's something the person would have not wanted like being on display: I don't mind sky burial or being fed to hogs, I find it more disturbing to be drained, plugged up and filled with toxic chemicals. I'm hoping to donate my body to science as I can't donate organs. I know what that entails and it doesn't seem worse than cremation or feeding worms and plants.

I was deeply upset by mad cow disease not because we were feeding cow to cows but because we were feeding meat to cows who eat very little protein (I find feeding corn to cows who get indigestion from it equally distressing and wrong). It was also a moment of shocking short-sightedness: the animal cruelty and choosing profit over life.

It's possibly cultural: to me, vampires represent bad burial and disease, the glamorous predator, aristocrats as feeding off those under them. vampirism is more problematic in that they feed off the living, often til murder, using dubious consent. That and blood presents more hygiene risks than flesh.

Whereas cannibals are partly blood libel stories, partly symbols of famine that forced people into doing unthinkable things to eat, but mostly a metaphor for sexual abuse: the man who eats wives, incestuous family lines, the father who's secretly an ogre, the houses we were told to never approach because someone there eats children.

The actual eating part doesn't register as taboo any more than autopsies, surgery, organ donation. Certainly not more than blood draining. Babies not only drink milk, they leech the mother's calcium from her bones. Funerary rites involving consuming body parts just sort of made an odd sense, as much as any of our other odd ways of dealing with death. Nothing brings out the naked consumption of it all like an inheritance, after all. The way people get grabby, wills get disrespected, the jewels - watch - valour or name worn by the usurpers: that's cannibalism in its unholy form.

The sex monster metaphor didn't come up much in the essay. It doesn't map onto the films and stories explored. It was briefly brought up within the topic of chattel slavery and 100 years of solitude. It just felt like a very odd cultural gap. I'm thinking the cannibal/ogre as code word for sexual predator usually of children or vulnerable women is probably very European (think the Erlkönig, Grendel and ogre/orc stories).

Another aspect that didn't come up was stolen/bought hair and teeth, nursemaids and grave robbing. These were very common practices of robbing the poor of body parts and disrespecting their burials. For that reason, i feel like many modern cannibal stories are repackaged vampire stories, in the same way that we got sentient zombie stories as repackaged vampires for a while there. IMHO There has to be theft and desecration for non-consensual cannibalism, some sort of bonding/grieving rite for consensual cannibalism.

Hannibal's universe is a standout: the sadism and callousness, trophies and total possession of the ogre while also adding that ritual shared consensual cannibalism into the mix.

I don't know, these things tend to blur into each other but a cannibal story to me is wuthering heights and frankenstein or more one sided like lolita where you've got the non consensual stealing of a body or semi consensual mutual destruction and a vampire story is more dubious seduction, a slow poison, something not fatal but damaging, victims left to deal with the aftermath (and stories about Byron being a douchebag LOL)

I thought it was a very interesting cultural difference that the first thing that comes to mind is the ogre or slaver archetype, not american legends of survival cannibalism or serial killers who also consumed body parts.

#saf

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libidomechanica · 1 year

Text

Untitled (“Think his valet, who”)

” Even our mind; till it virtual swell and sound! Stings, and made the dish of ten years, like pitch, without my woes in which were all where loves obliged to-night, nor loss of deep-seen wood, for how: but fight and surpass as much more explores all: million from other worth into

their seven. The rough some, their causes can I fall flauntingly the same mystic friar’s right? Block we are to cast may breath is like a viper off from the ministrings,—your proffer o’ luve’s an infant came a planisphere he gain’d esteem where set her scorn, began

to thee who could arise at first, but something way to side; furthermometer by whose bird, when on his name. Think his valet, who had from all around all his bosom, ah, few! Then she toils a song his prize. With his self-pity rest. From me hys Woes, and oozed all

o’ the parapet appearing through fowl now began to find none of the breath of fear, open’d next mornings pure as soon shall read, and over: lift thing told a tale, left a trifle— an old songs never disturbing colder: the sun came: king, look at each other Sunne

below the to mone! I breath of hands have a mutually we alters hung, although knives a few, the Lady of Shalott. In the broade her. Eyebrows being, flash’d to our souls. ’ The Waterloo was beaten—thought, weigh how dexterous as you survived even to the

youth ended, and the phoenix nest: if he door wide open wide and love is mute in all know it deck, is my brow, nor the sweet is some Wolfe thy soul from his he turned into one. The loftiest, and force throat. Do I remembered by that she glimmer or would not o’er themes

in his own long bow better becomes Sorrow act, and when this much display in forest- house of orphans in the cates. Course of old Pacha sits among therefore me thy picture of painfull beareth the stayed his table old, to adorn; neither colour’d monstrous lace,

which forest bond or for life of caulking, hinting to it again. Alas! As wound as honey-moon, that the place taken be, and why? However told mystery of unknown powerless, who had a sort of four young captain wait on posterity. Of bodies.

And upon her beautiful faces other sung a might be a trice: but t was to the world was sublime its skin. Oh, that the church, refusing you and many guilty of men—youth, Health shrank from thy her sweeter between us and thou called on a hill far from

age and pain What elder love as her in his Heart— now twist it grieves, to all, no Remedy but Flight; you failing lips, and all around had your strayed by fate, as breezeless lies, and strike: three, memphis, angelick face, as time hath her own legs wants to sounds: and had your

home, gleaning the Light lament and use Thy thigh: only they just meant holding two and the fair. Overlook at each the Lady of Shalott. Of crystal bower doth all this soul, or wish to trust God: see and with perish’d? All death most mortals, chastity, having but

a young Livonian. And low, but look wanton burned backward to me but touch thou opened all the physicians, yet was also did them thus; while some voice and emeralds breaks running in Heaven’s content to suit, whose than on Nature’s crowned there I suffering which they pay.

Its music, midnight in vain discompose nod in prose I lay listen the broad sons; with cold, in the sage replied interruptions, and next elections as their Violines. Looked with his snaky rod did charmingly; and the brings of this table old, today to flowers,

that once a star, over noblest Charis one the sea an old newspaper; patience all around—made it was dizzier painted when brought rheum to kisses; and truculent diseases, she look’d for life successful clutch. Who How the days unkind and all the time.

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 6 #153 texts #ballad

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veliseraptor · 2 years

Note

xuexiao and/or songxue for the ask game!

well I was going to pick one but then I thought WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE so - I mean answer here is a big ol' yes please for them both but

and also I know I did this one last time around but, again, why not do it again! I've got so many words in me. both in general and about this specifically

XUEXIAO

What made you ship it?

oh my god this ship is so incredibly Made for Me it's still kind of like. how is this a thing that exists, how did this happen in a real canon setting where I didn't have to build my own ship out of hypotheticals and bits and pieces, but where I actually have a whole arc devoted to the relationship between my blorbos in a shape that I like? what???

I mean it's just... [gestures] everything. the obsession/devotion, the villain domestication, the misery and tragedy and incredibly fucked up nature of the thing alongside the sweetness and potential...ah. delicious.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

so many things but to pick one, I mentioned this in the tags of a post recently I think, but I love the...simultaneity and coexistence of the sweetness and the awfulness of this pairing. Because on the one hand it's inherently fucked up, the way things go in canon is patently awful, there's so much misery and horror the whole thing is positively drenched in, and at the same time there's...Xue Yang making Xiao Xingchen laugh, and stupid games on the porch deciding on household chores, and candy on pillows, and...

I feel like there's something in the exchange with the drawing straws, actually, that encapsulates that - where Xue Yang is joking about ~exploiting Xiao Xingchen's blindness~ but clearly in a way where they're both in on the joke and it's almost a meme that they can both laugh about, while at the same time...Xiao Xingchen's being blind is (a) because of Xue Yang and (b) the reason Xue Yang is able to do the awful things he does.

love that.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm not sure? I feel like to a certain extent my sense of them kinkwise differs a little from what's become a more common fanon of Xiao Xingchen as mean dom - I think of them both as switches and Xiao Xingchen as much more of a service top than someone who actually enjoys being mean.

I feel like part of my problem with "unpopular opinion" things is that half the time I don't really know what the popular opinions are in any concrete sort of way.

I wouldn't say it's unpopular in the xuexiao segment of things but because I have seen it around, maybe: I don't think that they were, like, doomed to fail or that Xue Yang Could Never Change or Improve Behavior or whatever. and that's part of the sadness! the loss of the could have been - if it was unmistakably going to end in tears from the beginning then you lose some of that tragedy, I think.

(but I also think that they were doomed and it was never going to end up okay.

it's in the sense of "in infinite possible worlds" versus "in this broken one we live in" if that makes sense.)

SONGXUE

What made you ship it?

I think I've said this before but: it's about the grief sex and hate sex and proxyfucking and also the ways in which they actually have some things more in common than either of them does with Xiao Xingchen but at the same time there is so much hatred between them and yet...they're bound together so very, very intimately.

It's fucked up and I'm into it.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I really, really cannot emphasize enough how much I'm into it when two characters who hate each other are mutually grieving the loss of someone else and dealing with it in truly awful ways.

But the other flavor here that I always really like is the one where Song Lan absolutely despises Xue Yang and at the same time there's this niggling inability to just...write him off entirely? They're just sort of embedded in each other. Shared trauma and misery-bonding, or something like that.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Again, can't really measure metrics of popular/unpopular, but I don't think (in CQL) Song Lan was particularly happy to kill Xue Yang at the end of everything, and I don't think he got a whole lot of satisfaction out of it.

#conversating #blackteaaddict #songxue #xuexiao #song lan #xiao xingchen #xue yang #ship opinions meme

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xhanisai · 3 years

Text

AU where the current holders of the miraculous have dreams about the previous holders

- They only dream about the holders before them- not the holders before the previous ones (for example, say Laila is the current holder of the butterfly and the holder before her was Maya. The holder before Maya was Ali. Laila will only dream about Maya whilst Maya have dreamt about Ali).

- The dreams are in the POV of the previous holders; you would only see things that are happening through their eyes and have no control over their bodies. You will also feel the same things the holders are feeling. The dreams are only possible if the predecessor before the current holder has passed away.

- The last holders of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses were Bridgette Zhōu and Felix Gray (The PV predecessors of Marinette and Adrien). They were born in England and fought and died during the end of the second world war in 1945.

- Bridgette went by as Ladybird whilst Felix went by as Black Cat. They were sixteen when they received their miraculouses by Maître Fu.

- So Marinette, ever since gaining the earrings, would dream about Bridgette and the events that unfolded during her time. Adrien would dream about Felix on the other hand.

- At first, both were confused and horrified by this, especially after having to witness the brutal battles and war in first person and not having the power to help the way they want. They wouldn’t dare to mention this to each other in the beginning, unsure on how to approach the subject and completely traumatised too.

- They are quick to mature, especially in their civilian lives. Alya has noted that Marinette often wears a distant, sad look on her face, as if she’s weighed down by the burdens of the world.

- Nino was also quick to realise the tired yet determined gaze that Adrien wore, as if he was burning with the desire to protect everything he treasures as well as grieving for the things he’s lost. Though, the boy is an excellent actor and it’s really hard to see him unless you’re Nino.

- Since Marinette is far too distracted with coming up with plans and connecting dots to find out who le Papillon was, she’s not able to see how deep the changes were within Adrien, mainly focused on protecting her loved ones, especially her Chat Noir.

- Adrien on the other hand keeps a constant close observation on Marinette. She’s one of the few people out there that he really likes and cherishes so seeing her becoming more distant and tired and sad also upsets him.

- He starts to suspect about Ladybug’s civilian identity, especially after Plagg noting that he’s fallen for Marinette and LB for the umpteenth time.

- Marinette is also in love with both Adrien and Chat Noir (though she doesn’t like to admit the latter). She doesn’t make any attempts on romancing because she fears that it would be taken advantage of by le Papillon one way or another.

- Chat Noir is only a little flirty with Ladybug, also held back from the past holders and the current villain from fully attempting to romance her. Adrien is still soft and sweet with Marinette, always making sure she’s relaxed in his presence (Though, strangers can see that the feelings between ladynoir and adrinette are mutual).

- Both Adrien and Marinette love to spoil their kwamis with all the sweets and cheese the little Gods desire. The duo couldn’t fathom the guilt and trauma from their predecessors so how were Tikki and Plagg dealing with all the lives of their past holders?

- The bond between Tikki and Marinette and the bond between Plagg and Adrien is super, super strong.

- What finally causes Ladybug and Chat Noir to snap and communicate with each other regarding the dreams is when they finally dreamt about Bridgette’s and Felix’s last moments. These moments were the most haunting and painful out of them all.

Bridgette laid in a distraught Felix’s arms, a fatal wound in her chest, an ugly crimson growing on her clothes, yet a soft, subtle smile rested on her lips. With all her energy, she mustered up the strength to cup the sobbing boy’s cheek, as if Big Ben wasn’t being bombed to smithereens behind them and as if they weren’t surrounded by walls of deadly fire.

“Please...don’t close your eyes...don’t leave me...you’re going to be okay,” Felix choked, leaning into her touch which only grew terrifyingly colder and colder. He has to save her...he has to!

“D-Don’t cry, my sweet love,” Bridgette attempted to grin further and cooed at her lover, blind to Tikki’s vice grip on her blood stained school uniform and Plagg’s gape of horror. “I...I need you to run, Felix. Please-”

“What!? Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not leaving you! Not now, not ever!” He held her closer to him, tears cascading down his usually stoic face and mind scrambling for a plan. “I’ll save you, like always! And no one will dare to hurt you again-”

“Please...you’re already hurt. Please, live for me...”

“Bridgette...there’s no point in living if you’re not there with me, and that’s final!”

- Unfortunately, the duo met their demise from a direct bomb. Fu and Marianne had no choice but to take the miraculouses off their corpses as they were on the run, no time to mourn for the poor teens.

- Because of this dream, Chat has vowed to protect his Lady, no matter what, to ensure that she never has to go through the same pain as Bridgette (and also so he never has to mourn for another woman he’s loved with his everything).

- Ladybug has also vowed to ensure that they would never get into a situation like that, ever. The last thing she ever wants is for her partner to go through that pain.

- Sometimes, Marinette would find herself clutching her chest, as if she’s been shot, only to realise that they’re phantom pains from Bridgette’s fatal wounds and battle scars. Sometimes, the pain is enough to make her blackout.

- Similarly, this happens to Adrien too. Especially since Black Cat often got hurt during the war when fighting against the opposition.

- Both Marinette and Adrien have seen this happen to each other, not only as civilians but as their hero identities as well. They’re both 100% certain of their suspicions regarding the identities but are yet to address it.

- They get into arguments when Chat keeps on sacrificing himself. Both of them wanting to protect each other so badly, it hurts. The horrors of their predecessors’ lives and failures branded into their souls.

“You are the most important one out of us both! You can bring everything back to normal! Of course it makes sense for me to take that hit for you-”

“We are a team! I can’t do this without you and you know how much I hate seeing you die before my eyes over and over again!”

“But you bring me back every time-”

“That doesn’t stop it from hurting, you stupid cat! How would you feel if the person you love the most kept dying in front of you!?”

- After accidentally blurting out her confession, Ladybug attempts to run away, only for Chat Noir to hold her back by the hand. He then gently hugs her from behind, face hidden on the crook of her neck.

“I do know how it feels, Marinette. I do...” Chat held onto her tighter when she gasped, waiting until she relaxed before he carried on. “Every time I dream about that night, I feel Felix’s pain as his Lady died in his arms. I feel his guilt, his self-hatred, his grief, his heartbreak...everything.”

Lifting his head, Noir turned Ladybug around, his frown deepening from the tears that ran down her cheeks. He then brought his lips to one of her eyes, kissing away the tears with a softness that would rival even a mother’s touch to a new-born’s skin.

“I’m sorry I made you feel that way...I love you so much that I can’t bear to see you die, ever,”

- From then on, they come to a compromise that they’d work as hard as possible to keep either of them from dying for each other.

- It’s hard and difficult but now that they have each other in their civilian lives, as well as letting Alya, Nino and Marinette’s parents into the secrets, the burdens eased. Fu allowed them to do this, knowing that the burden is too much for a singular person to handle on their own. Together they all became one excellent support system.

- Thankfully, there are pleasant dreams from Felix’s and Bridgette’s lives as well. Such as: first time meeting, ballroom dancing, walking in the gardens, etc.

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ackerpreach · 3 years

Text

This ending .... I can name 500 reasons and I will name them right now, because I don’t think I’m the only one who is upset with how things turned out. (Also, A positive message for all of you at the end)

MAJOR LEAKS SPOILERS/ READ WITH CAUTION

Update: after reading more theories from fellow RM bloggers, and sleeping over it one day, this entire chapter might be an april fools... Don't fully lose hope yet beautiful people. It's me just giving a review on a possible fake April fools chapter

After following this franchise since 2013, so nearly a DECADE. this ending is a pure disserve to the entire fandom. I feel like Yams has rushed it just for the sake of being done with the entire manga. So many things are left open, characters and their developemt are reverted back all the way to chapter 1 or are left even worse than that...

Mikasa’s worthless character development/ Aaronmika’s horrible toxic codependent relationship

Oh honey... Let’s start with how horrible Isayama has treated her. We were all rooting for her, because we all felt like she was so misunderstood. She had a horrible childhood and imprinted on a guy who treated her like trash 99 percent of the story. And then, slowly but surely, she starts to realize she has to stop obsessing over him in the uprising arc with the help of a real man who treats her like a queen, more importantly, he treats her like a real human being. This man sees her for her abilities and that she has the power to be self dependent. She learned parts of herself, that she was able to work together with him like no one else could. She learned parts of herself she was unable to do so if she kept obsessing about Aaron. All this love, care, mutual understanding and RESPECT these two shared.

but...NAH FUCK THAT, right Yams?? Throw all this development away, all this bonding. Let’s make the main female lead even more yandere than she already was in the first season. Let her make out with his decapacitated head (like dude, this is also pure disrespect to Aaron’s dead body btw) and let her obsess even more about the guy who has treated her no better than a piece of toilet cloth 99 percent of the time. The guy who was never really appreciative in front of her for saving his ass billions of times, who always pushed her away, who yells at her and snaps at her whenever he can instead of reasoning and talking calmly with her in mature way. (EVEN PARODY YOUTUBE CHANNELS WHO DONT SHIP ANYTHING MAKE IT A TROPE WHERE AARON TELLS MIKASA HE HATES HER GUTS WHENEVER HE CAN)

Then after all that, suddenly Yams tries to last minute persuade us Aaron’s always been head over heels for her??? He should have build their relationship better which he hasn’t even tried to do so... He must be thinking his fans are stupid for eating this from his hands.

Like seriously??? What is this???

Isayama is just fully contradicting himself. It’s like someone tipped him off with a buttload of money for him to write Aaron like this to satisfy shipping needs and to cash in those extra money’s from it. Even if he tried to cater to Erem*ika, this is not how you write a loving and caring couple which people will root for.

This next two panels just freaking infuriates me to the core of my soul. I can’t even describe how dissapointed I am with Mikasa.

Why is she clutching that head so obsessively like that? Why is she walking and turning her back away from her comrades? After everything they have done for her, after all they’ve been through?! After everything Armin has done? Standing up for Mikasa, beating up Aaron for hurting her. I feel like even Jean, Connie and Sasha have cared more for her in a healthy way. Sure, Aaron cares for her romantically too apparently (What a twist Yams :)), but has he aided her to becoming a mentally healthier individual? Has he aided in her mental stability? The answer is a big fat NO! All I see between these two after today’s raw Chapter’s are too Yandere obsessed individuals who have no clue on how to maintain a healthy relationship.

Love should only go as far as the heart can endure and it seems like her character is not willing to be aware of that. Even Armin was able to let go of Aaron in those latest panels. Why does her entire character resolve around this guy??? I really do not understand. Her Ackerbond and her age is not an excuse for her to throw her life away like this.

Shonen’s disgusting portrayal of women

I’ve seen this countless of times in the many years I’ve watched anime. SasuS*ku from Naruto, Ichih*me from Bleach, Shinji and that oranged hair girl from Neon Evangelion.. Why do these women get decreased to simpletons with one single goal? And that is to obsess over a bland male lead who either treats them like trash or doesn’t notice them up until the last last chapter (LITERALLY WHAT YAMS HAS DONE). Some go even as far as the male leading wanting the kill the female love interest and yet the female lead is still in love with them???. It’s disgusting for him to write the MAIN female character this way.

It’s dissapointing we believed in Isayama doing Mikasa’s character right. That she’s finally being able to let go of her codependency and to live for herself maybe live in Hizuru and find more about her roots???, but every single time she shows some improvement, it’s burried deep in the ground again by the Author. It almost seems like a lowkey kink of some of the male Mangaka’s to write about a girl obsessing over them no matter what. I see this so many times to the point that I truly stand behind it that some of them might have this fantasy.

I wished he didn’t portray her last panels like this. Everyone else is living their lives while Mikasa is still grieving about him. I’m not saying she’s not allowed to grieve and everyone takes it at their own pace, but cmon... Show her living her life too. This is too much. Her being next to his grave and grieving him as her last panels just shoves it in our faces that YET AGAIN, BEING OBSESSED WITH AARON IS ALL HER CHARACTER STANDS FOR.

I truly despise how Isayama handles her grieving, kissing his decapacitated head, carrying it around like some handbag, and her last panels being thissss.

The world leaving Paradis alone miraciously after all that???

It’s so weird and out of place with so many political feuds and disagreements between the world and Paradis, the entire Rumbling happening and we can see Mikasa just chilling outside in Paradis with no one bothering them. You can see the rings of the walls in the picture below. I don’t know the exact reason behind as the manga is still in Korean, but from what I see, the story went the route of: throwing a happy ending without enough proper reason and it was all fixed just like that in a snap! It doesn’t fit the entire narrative of attack on titan for things to be so peacful out of nowhere. When it comes to the narrative, how things work in that world, how hard it is to achieve peace, everything made somewhat sense up until chapter 138. 139 seems so so out of place... It’s like I’m reading a chapter from a totally different manga.

Aaron Yoghurt got defeated so easily/ Aaron’s character assassination

The build up on the first part of the rumbling was great, those kids carrying coins. You could feel humanity’s fear and Aaron’s hatred in those pages. As if he truly had a goal and he has turned away completely from his comrades and his closest friends with no return. The world seemed truly doomed, but he got defeated just like that. He was in the nape all this time (because screw the warhammer power of hiding yourself elsewhere in his ginormous titan body). There is no master plan as we all expected, and in the end he just acts all yandere in the paths with Armin and that’s it... They massacared his entire character as well. Many fan theories created a better ending with his character. Him being reincarnated as Historia’s baby would be so much better. For him to still keep on seeking and to strive for power. It has always been his motive. It’s his personality from the start until chapter 138. Even if things are okay, to keep on going and to seek that adventure, but then.. He’s so weak and directionless suddenly.. It’s so weird... This is not Aaron at all???

Using Aaron for him this entire post, because I don’t want others to invade our tags... :)))

Historia’s baby

The only panel we got from Historia’s child was this. Just a normal kid, normal life... Why did Isayama put so much effort in highlighting Historia’s pregnancy if it was nothing too spectacular anyway? It seemed he had major plans for this kid and for their development too??? It’s again, big plans, big developments, big relationship dynamic, but all got thrown out of the window...

Don’t read the next sentence if you are a minor :’)

It’s like almost ejaculating, but stopping right before it and repeating that every single Arc.

My energy when writing about this chapter is the same as Nostalgia Critic and his hatred for atla the live action

In Conclusion...

I know us fans should not be deciding on how this story should end, because this is Isayama’s story after all, but I truly wished for him to wrap up things much more rounded. There are so many unanswered questions... Again, I think for the sake of being done with this manga, he rushed all of it. He’s become a millionaire from this story and now his pockets are jammed full, I guess he doesn’t need to put in any effort anymore, right? Perhaps a controversial opinion, but I really wished he cared for his fans a little bit more with this last chapter by giving some answers that make sense at least. It’s his fans who gave him this platform and the opportunity to tell his story and for him to at least give in a bit of effort especially in the last chapter is the least he can do. Rivamika being canon or not, he truly rushed it without thinking much about the entire story line. He expanded it so much, he didn’t know how to bind it all together.

Even after all this, I’ll still ship them in the headcanon type of way. I do give credit to Isayama for giving us a template for such a beautiful dynamic between Levi and Mikasa. He decides to waste it, but that doesn’t mean we have to. I want to thank all the people with amazing writing skills, the ones who give us beautiful art like @carmenlee @phit chan @vialesana and many more. I want to remind all of you that we can create something beautiful of our own and we don’t neccesarily need canon lore for that. The art I’ve seen, the fanfictions I’ve read have touched me deeper than Isayama ever could at times.The Mikasa in our mind is appreciate of Levi, is mature, classy and has a strong will for herself. They spend their remaining days together peacefully. Keep writing, keep drawing, stay creative.

I love you all so so much, I’ve only been publicly active since March, but thank you Rivamika fandom for giving me so much joy as a lurker these past 7 years <3

#rivamika #snk leaks #snk 139 leaks #levimika #mikalevi

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creepling · 3 years

Text

am i not enough? (quackity x reader) - apocalypse!AU

( 。・_・。)人(。・_・。 ) | part of the @quackisinnit 1k event !

THE PROMPT IS . . . “ AM I NOT ENOUGH ? “

pairing: irl!quackity x genderneutral!reader (apocalypse!AU)

word count: 3,306

summary: the reader and alex become a duo while coming across each others paths during a zombie apocalypse. tensions rise as they set up camp in a warehouse, where alex begins to confess how he feels towards the reader. (angst into fluff <33)

tw: zombie apocalypse, blood (ment), cursing, guns, death, eating.

It had been three months since the fallen of mundane life. Three months of complete abnormality, everything known to be in existence that was worth caring about; completely gone. jobs, currency, education were becoming a historic relic. The world was put back to zero. Instead of cavemen and dinosaurs, the new species of flesh-eating corpse’s roamed in packs and seeked for fresh meat. They may have been slow, but they travelled in numbers and they could smell you from a mile away. I learned that your scent became less of a problem when you didn’t keep hygenic. My stence blended with the earth and blood and the roamers didn’t catch us out as much; so we used that to our advantage.

I only had one companion, his name was Alex. He was absolutely dumbfounded when I discovered him. I raided his abandoned home looking for supplies, and when I had to kill a roamer that vacaded in his bedroom; I found him curled up in a ball under his bed. He told me that he had been hiding the whole month when he realised help was to never come; so his only plan was to hide out until he ran out of supplies. That became a problem when I attempted to take them. We made the mutual agreement that if I was to take the supplies, he would come with me. I refused to stay and hide; that is how you get yourself killed. Thankfully he agreed to come with me, and we have been inseperable ever since. However, our bond is nothing close to a friendship, we just had to stick together to survive.

Alex’s main idea was to find a group, hoping by now someone had turned one of the surbubans into a mini civilization. We had travelled between three cities however and we found no sign of good company. As a duo, we have only killed one human within these three months. A man who tried to kill us at gunpoint in hopes of taking our things, to which we scarsely saved our lives by ducking behind a bar table. With one aimless shoot, I shot my gun and it pierced through the man’s chest. I saved our lives, but the sight of the man’s lifeless eyes still haunts me in my sleep.

One night, Alex found a two-store warehouse to shelter in while on a supply run. He suggested we camp on the second floor and catch up on our sleep and starvation, since we eventually got ahold of sleeping bags and tinned food. I agreed, but reminded him the stay can’t be perminant. He agreed also, still fixated on the idea of finding a commune.

While I made a fire and cooked food, I obvserved Alex drawing in a notepad. I failed to make out what he was doing so I asked, “What are you drawing?”

“I’m trying to draw a map.” He said to me, “It’s not accurate, but it will give us a rough idea of the roads until we find a map.”

“I didn’t take you as a smart person.” I said, hoping he didn’t think I meant it seriously. It was rare for me to joke in times like these, but when I did, my humour came off dry. Thankfully, my comment made Alex scoff out a chuckle.

“And I didn’t take you for a fighter.” Alex said. Since being with each other for two months, we both naturally adopted different roles that benefitted us. Alex was the navigator, the finder; he seemed to have a good sense of direction and I relied on him to not get lost. He also had a good eye and was always good at finding things such as second-way exits or food hiding in obscure places. For me, my job was a lot more physical. I was a good shoot, I knew how to make a fireplace, or bandage a wound. When things got dirty, I would get lucky and save our asses.

“Your food’s ready.” I said, handing him his warm can of chicken soup and a packet of chips. He thanked me, putting his notebook down and sitting cross-legged beside me. As we ate we sat in silence, the only sounds in the warehouse being our mouths chewing the food. We hadn’t ate in nearly a week. I tried my best to chew my chips before swallowing so I didn’t end up with stomache pain, but the instant flavour shot through my tongue and I instinctly ate them quickly. Alex finished his food within minutes, licking the chip packet and his fingers; scraping every last bit of soup from the can and into his mouth. I reluctantly did the same, feeling a little embarrassed; I have never felt so starved in my life.

“That was fucking amazing.” Alex sighed out, now heating his hands over the fire. I nodded in agreement, collecting the empty tin cans and keeping them next to our things. They will be handy for traps, tying them with strings and hanging them in the woods while hunting would let us know of intruders. It was the small things like that that has made us survive this long.

“Are you gonna go to sleep now? I could keep watch.” I offered, observing Alex’s bloodshot eyes. If we had mirrors, we would flinch at our reflections. Alex looked rough. He always wore his beanie, which he apparently did even before things got bad. He always had a collective spot of dirt on his nose and cheekbones no matter how clean we were, it’s where it always collected the most. His hands were the most dirty, dirt under his short nails and inbetween his fingers. From the rare occasions we touched hands, I felt the softness of his hands, compared to mine that felt aged and rough. His knuckles were stained with blood. Out of both of us, I was covered in the most blood. When I looked down, my hands had a reddish tint, observing more I could see small cuts on my hands from being idle with my knife when striking roamer’s heads. Without having to see, I knew I had sprays of blood on my face from the amount of times I killed roamers. To think when life was normal we cared so much about our appearence, but now activities like doing makeup, brushing your hair, brushing your teeth seemed so pointless. We were slowly becoming used to primitive life and deep down that scared me. I think it scared Alex too.

“I’m tired as fuck, but I know I won’t sleep.” Alex said in a low tone, looking at his hands full of shame. I nodded my head in understanding, knowing exactly how he was feeling. We hadn’t slept properly in months, instead when one person kept watch, the other just lay down with their eyes closed. We forgot what it was like to dream, or to feel hazy. We were constantly alert.

“Since we have no intention of sleeping. Why don’t we play a game?” Alex said. I cocked my eyebrow up in question. What game could we play that didn’t involve making noise and attracting attention?

“We ask each other 20 questions. Normally if you don’t want to answer a question- you would have to do a dare. But hey, wants the point in hiding nowadays?” Alex said, looking at me contently.

“We should be hiding ourselves more than ever, I think.” I said, adding fuel to the fire to keep it burning. “That way no one knows our weaknesses.”

“So you don’t trust me?” Alex said. His question threw me off. It’s not that I didn’t trust him, but maybe I was unwilling to get to know him. I had already lost the people close to me, and I was still in grieving. I was too afraid to get close with Alex. I always had the thought in the back of my head that one day, I might end up losing him. His intelligence may only get him so far.

“I understand.” Alex said, taking back his question. Seeing the hurt in my eyes, he must have realized what I was thinking. He lost his close ones too. We both lost so much, we had a mutual understanding about that. Yet, I looked at Alex, and he still felt like a mystery to me. He always pulled out jokes, even in times like these. However, in moments when he thought I wasn’t looking, I could see the pain concealed in his face. Sometimes I even heard him cry at night when he thought I was sleeping. Maybe it was about time we opened up to each other, instead of feeling like we need to suffer alone. We could be there for each other not just physically, but emotionally.

“Okay then, since it was your idea, you ask the first question.” I said, hugging my legs to my chest. Alex smiled a little at me, going into thought as he tried to think of a question.

“So, what did you do when life was normal?” He asked first.

I let out a sigh then replied, “I had a very normal life. Lived with my family, did average in school, worked a job to get money. I actually had plans of moving out to the city, I always wanted to go to LA. I never really had aspirations, just wanted to be content.” It sounded boring, but I was happy with my life. I had my ups and downs like everyone else. “What were you like?”

Alex smirked and looked away from me, seeming to become bashful. “I was a twitch streamer.” He said. “And had a Youtube channel. God- it sounds so stupid now that I say it. Like it was all pointless-”

“Were you like- famous?” I asked, trying to conceal a smile.

“Um- I guess you could say that. I had millions of followers.” Alex shook his head, “But I also went to college. I was studying law. I was always staying up late, barely sleeping; both studying and streaming all the time. It took up my whole life, that I just kinda forgot about everything else.”

“Well, you were obviously not famous, because I didn’t know who you were.” I jokingly said, nudging his side. That seemed to make him smile and feel less embarassed.

“So how the hell did you learn how to shoot if you lived such a normal life?” He asked.

“I just learned while doing it. My dad kept a gun.” I admitted, looking at the very same gun I had in the holster wrapped around my thigh. “He would teach me now and then how to use it, but I was never a shooter. The more roamers I shot, the more I got used to it.” Thinking about someone close to me made me chew the inside of my cheek anxiously.

To deflate my melancholy, I asked the next question. “Did you always wear that stupid hat?”

Alex chuckled and rubbed the top of his hat. “Yeah, twenty-four seven. I don’t why, I just find it comfortable. My “fans” would joke that I was bald because I never showed my hair.” He said, “God- saying the word fans sounds fucked up . . .”

“Maybe you’ll bump into one of them.” I said, “Heck- maybe there’s a commune right now dedicated to you, trying to find you and keep you safe.”

Alex laughed again, covering his face with his hands. I laughed alongside him, the first time I genuinely laughed in a good few weeks. Looking at Alex, seeing how I uplifted him, it struck a chord with me. As much as I didn’t like to show it, but he made affects on me that were indescribable. He made me feel just a little more contempt, without him I would probably not be able to cope for this long. We eventually locked eyes with each other, Alex’s gaze being longer than I expected. If it wasn’t for the blood, my face would have exposed the blush forming on my cheeks.

“Have you ever fell in love, (Y/N)?” Alex then asked me, which set me aback. The question was out the blew and I think Alex realised that as he looked away shyly, his gaze fixated on the flames of the fire to avoid my gaze. I still stared at him, almost in amazment, trying to conjuct a reasonable answer.

“I don’t know.” I answered. “I have loved people, yes, but- I don’t think I have been in love. You’re suppose to know when things like that happen, right?”

Alex didn’t answer me, he kept staring at the fire. I found myself admiring his side profile, watching how he slowly bit his lip; concealed in thought. I noticed how the glow of the flames contrasted with the darkness of his eyes, how the light outlined his complexion. When I realized I was staring for too long, I looked away, instead my eyes looked out the warehouse window, my eyes tracing the stars in the night sky.

“I feel like I have known you forever.” Alex admitted all at once. “It’s only been two months, but I have gotten close to you more than anyone I have in my whole life. It might sound crazy but- I believe we were suppose to come together that day.”

My gaze turned back to Alex when I felt his eyes lay upon me. His stare was soft, something I only seen in passing times. I was able to admire him for the first time since we met. In this moment, in the dead of night, away from danger and suspicion; I could look at him with full sentiment. I didn’t need to admire him when he was less suspecting it, afraid of receiving decline or making things awkward. In this moment I realized, I may have developed feelings more than companionship towards him. That excited me. But also terrified me.

“I feel that way with you, Alex.” I admitted, “But . . .”

I decided to choose my words carefully. This conversation was heading in a direction that made me nervous. The world is falling apart around us, and I couldn’t help but question our motives. We should be focusing on survival, not developing a relationship that could be destroyed at any second. Once we step out this warehouse, our chances of losing our lives become high. I wasn’t prepared to damage my mental state, it was already bad enough. I realized my long pause was making Alex shift nervously, so I looked at him in hopes my words would slip from my mouth.

I caved in, muttering lowly, “We should get some rest.” I got up on my feet and was ready to grab my sleeping bag and make up a place to rest, until I heard Alex get his his feet and say words that made my heart sink.

“Am I not enough?”

When I turned to look at him, the hurt was glistening in his eyes. He gulped dryly and he fumbled with his fingers. My eyes shifted from side to side as I was stuck with my words. I kept stammering, and I rubbed my face in stress, ready to plead my case. Until Alex jumped in.

“Don’t think I’m only saying these things to you because there is no one else, (Y/N). I have been thinking about this for a while, everytime I am left with my thoughts. I am certain I will still have the same feelings if we met when things didn’t go to shit. I don’t just think this because we have been the only people for each other. I really really like you, (Y/N). And because of the way the world is, I never want to lose you. I never want you to feel alone ever again. I not only want to protect you because we’re a team, I want to protect you because the thought of losing you pains me so much.”

For a split second I thought Alex was about to burst into tears. That was when I did something I thought I would never do again, which was pull him into my embrace. I hugged Alex so tight that I heard him gasp, freeze, until he eventually wrapped his arms around me and held me just as tight. My face buried into the crook of his neck, feeling the warmth of his body, his soft hands caressing my back and brushing his thumb down my spine in a soothing manner.

“You are enough, Alex.” I said, my words muffled by his body. I reached my lips to his ear so he could hear my words clearly. “I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to like me, or be forced to like me just because we were brought together. I was afraid you thought you were stuck with me.”

I anticipated the day that once we meet other life, Alex would slowly fade away and forget who I was. Once he meets other people, we would go our seperate ways. I never knew why the hypothetical idea pained me so much, until now. As Alex pulled away from my embrace, looking me in the eyes in a loving manner that was foreign to me, his hands on my shoulders, I realized why that idea made my heart feel heavy. I never want him to leave me, I want him to always be by my side. Alex’s gaze was enough proof that he wanted the same.

Stimulated by his touch, I was taken aback when I felt his hand cup my cheek. The warmth of his breath breezing against my cheek, I inhaled as if oxygene was nonexistent. I never realized the proximity between us was slowly closing in and when I did my eyes fluttered shut. Alex hesitated for a split second before pressing his soft lips against my own. My neck bent slightly backwards and I shifted my head to the side to deepen into our kiss, my blood-stained hands grabbing the edges of his open jacket and holding him dearly close. The heat of the kiss intermingled with the heat from the fire, my cheeks and ears grew hot. Alex’s hands were surprisingly warm as he reached his hands under my shirt, pressing his fingers and palms on the middle of my back before running his touch down my spine. My breath became shaky and I felt my legs grow heavy under me, my hands cupped the back of his neck to keep myself uplifted, and luckily Alex’s arms held my weight and pressed my body against his. It felt like hours had went by between our lips moving in sync, our tongues grazing our bottom lip’s, our hands moving and resting on different parts of our bodies. His touch felt contagious, his kisses ranging between soft and passionate. I didn’t want to stop, I never wanted to let go. Between kisses I would mutter you are enough, you are enough which made Alex smile against my lips.

That night, everything we had to worry about became last priority. The focus all throughout was each other, making up for the days where affection couldn’t be shown. In the dead of night, there wasn’t a roamer in sight. Instead of hearing narls and groans or screams of pain, there was only the faint sounds of nature. The full moon glistened, as if to be a prediction for the emotions spilling between us. I promised myself from this moment on, as I admired Alex, I would protect him no matter what. I will make sure he always feels safe as long as he is beside me. He will always be enough, if not more.

TAGLIST: @momo-has-a-gun @diggorysmalfoy @quack42069 (join my taglist)

#quackity x reader #irl!quackity x reader #quackity x you #quackity x y/n #gender neutral reader #quackity x gn!reader #quackity imagine #quackity fanfic #mcyt fanfic #mcyt imagine #mcyt x reader #youtuber imagine #quackity angst #quackity fluff #apocalypse!AU #mcyt apocalypse au #quackity apocalypse au

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inhonoredglory · 3 years

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i dont think you ever received my last ask a while back, but now i gotta know what ur favorite duos are! (platonic or romantic!) - armin anon

o h mygod forgive me dear armin nonnie!!! the last weeks of school threw me off and then the trollhunters trailer hit and I got distracted. but I hope you’re still out there hearing my answer. I really have fun chatting with you, so thanks for this second question!

My favorite duos, oh gosh. I could even talk about my favorite trios, the character relationships in SNK are so well developed and rich.

Erwin and Levi

My top duo is of course Erwin and Levi. (My summer project is to make a receipts AMV of all the wonderful things Isayama and others have said about the pair.) Their closeness is something else, built on such mutuality, maturity, and love. Erwin looks like a devil to everyone but Levi, who sees his innocent humanity; Levi looks cold and unemotional to everyone but Erwin, who sees his compassionate nature. Erwin changed Levi’s worldview––allowing him to see beyond his own small world to a bigger one, where freedom was possible. Levi saw the darkest side of Erwin’s heart, and still trusted him implicitly, believing in him and selflessly giving up his own need for Erwin to stay in his life in order to give him peace and redemption instead. And as Isayama said,

“Levi had always seen Erwin’s goal of doing things for humanity’s future as an unimaginably altruistic act, and made it his life’s mission to reach the same heights.”

And with that final act of letting Erwin die, Levi did just that––become selfless in the hardest way possible. To let go of the person that gave your life meaning, because in death was healing, in death was innocence, in death was love.

Are they romantic or platonic? To me, love is beyond those labels. People can be romantic with each other and not really have real love. People can have real, dedicated love and never ever kiss or want to. Levi and Erwin share an undeniable soulmate bond, and while there is definite signs of romantic Eruri (Isayama hinting Levi’s type isn’t women, but tall people; Erwin getting flirty in supplemental short stories), to me the important part is that they are each other’s special person and that’s why I adore them so much.

(Artist: rozavay)

Jean and Armin

Because Jean and Armin were two of my first faves from the show, I naturally gravitated to the pair. What I adore about them is how much each one of them defends the other, desperately rushing to each other’s aid on the battlefield and trusting one another. Going through the manga, I found a really touching moment when Armin was fixing a prisoner's gag (the man who had sexually harassed him) and getting visibly disturbed. Jean felt that, and intercepted the moment, getting Armin out of that situation. Jean’s actually really good at detecting people’s emotions, so it was beautiful to see him sensitive and caring with Armin.

I don’t see them as romantic, but I enjoy some good Jearmin just the same, and there’s something to be said for Jean’s canonical jealousy of Armin spending so much time with Eren. Armin’s just that good a catch LOL.

Jean and Marco

Marco changed Jean’s life, gave him a reason to be more than himself. He believed in Jean, trusted him, and encouraged him. I find it incredibly moving that Jean keeps coming back to Marco to remind himself why he chose the life he did.

I totally got on board the ship with this amazing fic about the two of them: To Everything There Is A Season by flecksofpoppy

Canonically, I don’t believe it’s romantic, but they share the deep, beautiful bond of one person owing their entire life’s purpose and sense of meaning from the other.

(Artist: kaa05n2)

Bertholdt and Reiner (+Titan Trio)

Since Bertholdt was my bean in season 2, I really felt drawn to his relationship with Reiner. My sister loved Reiner too, so this duo was a good one for us both to enjoy. Bertholdt was always so insecure in himself, afraid to do or say anything in the big scary, foreign world he was dropped into as a child warrior. He relied on Reiner, and yet so often he couldn’t access him emotionally, since he was dealing with their tragic lives in his own way. He had to grow to be Reiner’s anchor, while still awash himself. They fought for each other more than for their homeland, fought for the things they both came to care about growing up on Paradis, and they were inseparable. Bertholdt risked his mission to see if Reiner was okay in the Return to Shigonshina arc, and he drew strength from Reiner’s trust in him to make his own choices and act on his own in that battle as well. As much as it pains me to see him fulfill his character growth in such a dark way, I still have a spot in my heart for him and his friendship with Reiner.

Levi and Furlan (+Underground Trio)

I got hit in the face with this relationship after I read the No Regrets manga, which shows so much more than the anime version regarding the equality in trust between Levi and Furlan. In the manga, Levi didn’t have subordinates (denying the term for them), he had friends who he had made his family. Levi bet all their lives on Furlan’s plan, and when he went on his first mission, he had such a falling out with him because Levi wanted to protect him and Isabel. Furlan was so grieved by the darkness in both Levi and Isabel’s hearts and put everything on the line because he believed he needed to get them out of the darkness of the underground. Their relationship is a beautiful insight into Levi’s early years and his inherent compassion and deep care for others.

^ The Levi Ackerman actually stopping to hearken to the command of someone else (who’s not Erwin lol), trusting in Furlan’s bigger plans with this stranger than just merely kicking him out, like Levi wanted to do.

Armin and Eren (+Shigonshina Trio)

The entire rooftop sequence and serumbowl shows how much Eren (and Mikasa) care and love Armin. In a way, Eren and Armin are the mirror for Levi and Erwin, with Erwin’s bigger dreams of the world outside the walls turning Levi’s motivations, built on tragedy, into something positive and forward-looking. Likewise, Eren’s darker need for anger and revenge is turned into something good and innocent when he shares in Armin’s dream. Armin’s hope makes Eren feel confident. He believes in him even when Armin doesn’t believe in himself. And of course, that painful way Armin tells him, “I’d never lie to you, would I?” because he knows Eren would never let him go through with his selfless mission if he’d known what he meant to do. To Eren, Armin is a better person than he’d ever be.

Now why couldn’t we have just ended the whole show right here lol?

Ymir and Historia

One of the few explicitly canon romantic couples in SNK! Their story is tragic, beautiful, and inspiring. Each one of them telling the other to be free of society’s expectations of them, to stop living for other people and to live for themselves––together. The change in Ymir, going from someone selfish to someone who would die for Historia’s happiness, is a gut-wrenching thing to watch. Their shared arc is complex, messy, and struck through by the goodness of a young girl who found the humanity in someone who never thought themselves worthy of love.

aaa I think that covers my favorite duos in SNK!

#attack on titan #snk meta #eruri #snk #armin anon #anon #ask #glory watches snk #*mine #*mymeta #*mythoughts #Anonymous

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